Taylor Finke

The Southern Glossary Instagram account is curated by a new artist or photographer each week. Every curator will put their own spin on the account, showing off work, their process, and their surroundings. Here's a Q&A with last week's curator, photographer Taylor Finke.

How did you interest in your medium begin and how did you arrive at your current style?

I started photographing, not very seriously, in high school. When I picked up my camera again in college and started to think more intentionally about creating an image, I spent a lot of time creating controlled images for the camera—by staging elaborate self-portraits, or building objects to be photographed. For me, this was ultimately an unsatisfying and short-lived way of working. I began noticing that my most interesting images were less intrusive and were often small, quiet moments formed in response to my environment.

How do you feel about the relationship of an artist to their city or surroundings?

My surroundings are extremely important to the work I’m making now, sometimes in more obvious ways than others. Even though my work is not explicitly about Florida, you can see some influences of the region I’ve lived in for the past ten years seeping in, like the lighter pastel color palates I tend to gravitate towards.

Where do you go to draw inspiration?

In my most recent work, I have been photographing the domestic spaces of women that I know—homes that, for one reason or another, I have spent a great deal of time in. So when I’m looking for inspiration, I tend to go to one of these places and spend several hours there, watching the light move throughout the rooms and the spaces change until I see something I respond to.

I also spend a lot of this time talking to the women that live in these homes about themselves and their experiences, which definitely informs the work.

Do you feel creatively satisfied?

Most of the time, no. But I think that my own anxieties actually push me to continue making, and keep me from becoming too comfortable with one thing for too long.

Tell me about a recent, current, or upcoming project or exhibition.

I’m currently starting the process of making my first handmade photo book, consisting of images from the past year or so.

The Southern Glossary Instagram is at the heart of our project. Each week, a new artist shares work from somewhere in the South and communicates how it affects and inspires them. Check out the latest images from the feed and be sure to follow us.